Hot Topics:

Lubbock man loses bid to halt execution

By MICHAEL GRACZYK Associated Press

Posted:
10/09/2013 02:03:52 AM MDT

HUNTSVILLE, Texas—A Lubbock man was headed for the Texas death chamber Wednesday evening for killing his parents at their home 15 years ago during a drug-influenced rampage that also left his 89-year-old grandmother dead.

Michael Yowell, 43, tried to delay his execution by joining a lawsuit with two other condemned prisoners that challenged Texas prison officials' recent purchase of a new supply of pentobarbital for his scheduled lethal injection.

Justices agreed with lower federal courts, however, that rejected the arguments. The brief ruling was delivered minutes before Yowell was taken to the Texas death chamber Wednesday evening.

The prisoners argued use of the sedative could cause unconstitutionally needless pain and suffering because the drug, replacing a similar inventory that expired at the end of September, was made by a compounding pharmacy not subjected to strict federal scrutiny. Texas, like other death penalty states, has turned to compounding pharmacies that custom-make drugs for customers after traditional suppliers declined to sell to prison agencies or bowed to pressure from execution opponents.

The lawsuit sought an injunction to delay the execution and gain more time to ensure "the integrity and legality" of the drug and be certain its use was within constitutional protections.

Attorneys for the inmates took the case to the U.S.

Advertisement

Supreme Court after lower federal courts ruled that the drug appeared adequate and that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice did nothing wrong in acquiring it.

"Our baseline contention is we, the public, have to be concerned about transparency and accountability by a state agency that's carrying out the gravest of all possible duties," Maurie Levin, one of the inmates' attorneys, said.

Yowell's parents, John, 55, and Carol, 53, were found dead in the wreckage of their home following an explosion on Mother's Day weekend in 1998. Yowell's 89-year-old grandmother, Viola Davis, who was staying there, died days later of injuries suffered in the blast.

Yowell already was on probation for burglary and drug convictions. He was arrested on federal firearms charges and charged with his parents' slayings after authorities determined his mother had been beaten and strangled and his father was shot. Prosecutors showed John Yowell was killed when he caught his son stealing his wallet. Yowell then attacked his mother, opened a gas valve and fled. The home blew up.

"At some point he's looking his mom in the face, beating her and wrapping a lamp cord around her neck," Lubbock County District Attorney Matt Powell, who prosecuted the case, recalled Tuesday. "I think always there are some unanswered questions. You want to know how somebody is capable of doing that to their parents."

Evidence showed Yowell had a $200-a-day drug habit he supported by stealing. Evidence also showed he burned some of his bloody clothes and hid a blood-stained jacket and the murder weapon in the crawl space of a friend's house. Defense attorneys unsuccessfully tried to show Yowell was insane.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review appeals that contended Yowell received shoddy legal help at his 1999 trial and in the early stages of his appeals.

He'd be the 14th inmate this year executed in Texas, which executes far more prisoners than any other state.

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story